Bolt handle and pistol grip magazine for an automatic firearm

ABSTRACT

An automatic firearm comprises a frame, a receiver mounted on the frame, a barrel mounted on the receiver, a bolt disposed in the receiver and telescopically movable relative to the breech end of the barrel against the action of a recoil spring, the bolt being controlled by a sear which is movable in response to movement of the weapon trigger. A trigger guard is mounted on the frame and disposed in enveloping relationship to the trigger and arranged with one end protruding inwardly of the frame and adjacent the breech end of the barrel so as to aid in guiding rounds of ammunition into the breech end of the barrel. A bolt handle is movably mounted on the bolt and arranged to extend through a longitudinal slot formed in the receiver. The bolt handle is constructed so as to form a locking relationship with enlarged ends of the longitudinal slot when moved relative to the bolt and a sight passage is formed in the outwardly protruding portion of the bolt handle which allows sighting therethrough in line with the front and rear sights when the bolt handle is in an unlocked condition but precluding sighting when the bolt handle is in locked position.

limited States Patent lngram [151 3,651,736 51 Mar. 28, 11972 [73]Assignees: Michael H. Adair; lRosser S. Reeves, III, c/o TiderockCorporation, New York, N.Y. attorneysin-fact [22] Filed: Junell, 1969[21] Appl.No.: 832,083

[72] Inventor:

[52] 11.8. C1. ..89/l32, 42/16, 89/1 K,

V ,7 a "89/195 [51] Int. Cl ..F41d 11/02 [58] Field otSearch ..42/7,16.3, 72;89/27.3, 136, 89/132, 180,194,195, 197

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 710,660 10/1902 Bennett eta1. ..42/16.3 UX 786,099 3/1905 Clement ..89/l95 X 1,502,676 7/1924Kewish ....42/l6.3 UX 1,869,911 8/1932 Reising..... ....42/l6.3 UX2,297,693 l0/1942 Dicke ..89/l80 2,424,194 7/1947 Sampson et al. ..42/723,039,366 6/1962 lmthurn et al. ..42/7 X Dieckmann ..89/ l 95 Miller etal ..89/l85 X Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt AssistantExaminer-Stephen C. Bentley Attorney-Nolte & Nolte 5 7] ABSTRACT spring,the bolt being controlled by a sear which is movable in H 7 response tomovement of the weapon trigger. A trigger guard is mounted on the frameand disposed in enveloping relationship to the trigger and arranged withone end protruding inwardly of the frame and adjacent the breech end ofthe barrel so as to aid in guiding rounds of ammunition into the breechend of the barrel. A bolt handle is movably mounted on the bolt andarranged to extend through a longitudinal slot formed in the receiver.The bolt handle is constructed so as to form a locking relationship withenlarged ends of the longitudinal slot when moved relative to the boltand a sight passage is formed in the outwardly protruding portion of thebolt handle which allows sighting therethrough in line with the frontand rear sights when the bolt handle is in an unlocked condition butprecluding sighting when the bolt handle is in locked position.

7 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEHMAR 2 8 I972 SHEET 1 UF 3 INVENTORGRDQN ENGAM ATTORNEY Pmmgnmzs 1972 3,651,736

SHEET 2 UF 3 ATTORNEY BOLT HANDLE AND PISTOL GRIP MAGAZINE FOR ANAUTOMATIC FIREARM Automatic weapons of the submachine gun type aresometimes referred to as machine pistols and such weapons must be lightin weight and efficient in operation.

According to this invention weight of the weapon is kept to a minimum byconstructing certain elements so that they perform two or morefunctions. For example, the trigger guard of this invention is arrangedin such manner as to afford protection for the outwardly protrudingtrigger and also so as to function as guide means whereby rounds ofammunition are directed into the breech end of the gun barrel. Accordingto another feature of the invention, the bolt handle is arranged so asto provide manual means for operating the bolt from its closed to itsopen position and vice versa and in addition the bolt handle is movablymounted on the bolt so as to form a locking relationship with anenlarged end of the slot formed in tion, the bolt handle is providedwith a sight path which accommodates the passage of liquid in alignmentwith the front and rear sights when the bolt is unlocked but whichprecludes sighting when the bolt is locked. In this manner a visualindication of the locked and unlocked condition of the bolt isaffordled.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a side view of a sub-machine gunconstructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the gun shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views taken along the line designated 2-2 in FIG. 2and which respectively depict the bolt handle in locked and unlockedcondition;

FIG. 3 is a side view partially sectioned and similar to FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are views taken along the line designated 3-3 in FIG. 3and depict respectively the bolt handle in locked and unlockedpositions;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view partially in section and which shows thebolt in its extreme open position ready for the initiation of a firingoperation by the trigger;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the bolt in anintermediate position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 but showing the bolt in itsclosed firing position;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are enlarged views partially in section of the mechanismwhich depict the extractor and the ejector at the beginning of anejecting operation and at the completion thereof respectively and inwhich FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 9--3 in FIG. 1.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates the frame structure of theweapon to the bottom portion of which a magazine housing designated bythe numeral 2 is affixed. A hand gripping portion 3 forms a part ofmagazine housing 2 and the numeral 4 designates a conventional removablemagazine structure.

The trigger is of conventional construction and is designated by thenumeral 5. Trigger 5 is pivotally mounted on pin 6 secured to frame I ina manner well known in the art. The numeral 7 generally designates atrigger guard which is affixed at one end to the frame 1 as by weldingdesignated by the numeral 8. Trigger guard 7 is provided at the otherend with an inwardly extending portion 9 which serves not only as aportion of the trigger guard but which also serves as guide meanswhereby rounds of ammunition from the magazine 43 are directed into thebreech end of the barrel. The numeral 10 designates an intermediateportion of the trigger guard "i which protrudes outwardly and functionsin the conventional manner as a guard for trigger 5.

In order to facilitate secure holding of the gun by the user, a strap111 is mounted on bracket 12 to the frame of the weapon.

The barrel of the weapon is fixedly mounted to the frame and isdesignated by the numeral 13. Barrel 13 is arranged to the receiver andin which the bolt handle is slidable. In addiextend inwardly into thereceiver 14. As is apparent from FIG. 9 the receiver 14 is supported at14:: and at Mb by lateral portions of the trigger guard 7.

Front sight 15 is affixed in conventional manner to the forward end ofreceiver 14 and rear sight 16 is affixed by pins 17 and 18 to the frame1.

A retractable stock 19 is mounted on a pair of rods 20 which areslidable into and out of the frame structure I.

Bolt 21 is slidably mounted within receiver 14 and is provided with acavity at its lower right hand portion as viewed in FIG. 3 which isreciprocal relative to the breech portion 22 of barrel 13. Bolt 21 isbiased toward the right as viewed in FIG. 3 by recoil spring 23 which isdisposed about rod 26. Rod 24 is affixed at its left hand end as viewedin FIG. 3 to the frame structure 1 and is received within a passageformed in bolt 21 so that the rod 23 is slidably related to bolt 21.

For the purpose of manually operating bolt 21 from its open to itsclosed position and vice versa, a manually operable handle 25 isprovided in accordance with one feature of this invention. Handle 25 isrotatable about its vertical axis and is held in a particular positionby means of locking pin 26 which is biased toward the left by a spring27 and which seats within recesses formed on the sides of handle 25 suchas are indicated by the numerals 28 and 29. It will be understood thatrecesses such as 28 and 29 are disposed about the periphery of handle 25and preferably are four in number. Handle 25 extends through slot 30formed in the upper portion of receiver 14. Slot 30 is constructed withenlarged end portions 31 and 32.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, the part of handle 25 whichis slidable within slot 30 is formed with a major axis and a minor axisso that when the major axis is disposed in perpendicular relationship toslot 30 and with the handle 25 disposed within the enlarged portion 31or 32 of slot 30, the bolt 21 is locked in position. Of course the boltis locked in its closed position when handle 25 is locked within theenlarged portion 32 of slot 30. On the other hand, when the handle 25 isdisposed in its locked position in enlarged portion 31 of slot 30, thebolt is locked in its open position. With the bolt handle rotated to theunlocked position as shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B, the bolt 21 is freelyslidable from left to right and vice versa.

Bolt handle 25 is provided with a sight passage 33 which allows sightingalong the front and rear sights 15 and 16 when the bolt handle 25 isdisposed in an unlocked position.

On the other hand, when the bolt handle is arranged in locked position,the sight passage in handle 25 is disposed in transverse relationship tothe line of sight defined by from sight 15 and rear sight 16 therebyaffording a ready visual indication of the locked condition of the bolt.

For the purpose of securing the removable magazine 4 in position withinmagazine housing 2, a rotatable latch 34 is pivotally mounted on pin 35within the hand grip portion 3 of magazine housing 2. Furthermore latch34 is biased in a clockwise direction toward latching position by acompression spring 36 to cause the latching surface 37 of latch 34 toride underneath the latching surface 38 formed in magazine 4. Thus asshown in FIG. 3, the magazine 4 is held in its service position.

In order to remove magazine 4, manual pressure is applied to projectingportion 39 of latch 34 to cause the latch to rotate in acounterclockwise direction about pin 35. This action releases latchingsurface 37 from latching surface 33 and allows the magazine 4 to beremoved downwardly in conven' tional fashion.

For the purpose of biasing ammunition rounds upwardly in a conventionalmanner, a spring 40 is provided which is of the compressional type andwhich functions in known manner as is obvious from FIG. 3.

For controlling the operation of bolt 21 by means of trigger 5, a scar41 is provided with a latching surface 42 which engages the lower righthand comer 43 of bolt 21 to hold the bolt in its extreme left handposition. Sear 41 is pivotally mounted on pin 44 supported 'on frame ll.Sear 41 is biased in a clockwise direction about pin 44 by means ofcompression spring 45. A pin as is mounted on sear 41 and affords asurface for engagement by trigger 5. Thus in order to fire the weaponand with the parts disposed in the positions depicted in FIG. 4, it issimply necessary manually to rotate trigger in a clockwise directionabout its pin 6. This action causes the trigger 5 to rotate sear 41 in acounterclockwise direction about pin 444 due to the engagement oftrigger 5 with pin 46. Rotation of sear 41 causes its latching surface42 to disengage the lower right hand latching surface 43 of bolt 21.When the bolt is thus released, recoil spring 23 drives the bolt 21toward the right causing the round of ammunition designated Rl to slideupwardly and toward the right along guide portion 9 of trigger guard 7as shown for example in F IG. 5. With round Rll seated within the breechportion 22 of barrel l3, firing pin 47 engages the cap portion of roundRil and fires the round. The projectile P11 proceeds outwardly towardthe right in conventional fashion. .The pressure developed urges thecartridge case (I'll toward the left which action drives the bolt Zlltoward the left against the action of recoil spring 23. Of course theweapon continues to fire automatically in known manner as long astrigger 5 is depressed.

Cartridge case such as Cl is extracted from the breech 22 of barrel 13by an extractor designated for example in FIG. 7 by the numeral 48. Asthe cartridge case such as Cl moves toward the left in unison with thebolt 21, ejector pin 39 strikes the cartridge case C1 and drives thecase downwardly and outwardly through the ejector opening 5t) formed inframe ll. This action is depicted in FIG. 8. Of course the ejector pin49 is disposed within a passageway 51 formed in bolt 21 so that there isa slidable relationship between the bolt 21 and ejector pin 49 which pinis fixed in position relative to frame ll. The extreme right hand end 52of ejector pin 49 simply engages the lower side portion of cartridgecase C11 and forces the case to swing out of contact with the jaws ofthe extractor db.

The stock 19 as explained above is retractably mounted on the frame 1 byvirtue of the slidable relationship of rods with the frame ll. Rods 20are provided with a pair of notches which cooperate with manuallycontrolled transversely disposed locking rods. For example, outwardlyprotruding manually engageable pin 53 is engageable with transverselydisposed locking rods 54 and 55 which cooperate with a transverse notchformed in rods 20. Rods 5d and 55 together with the manually operableelement 53 are biased downwardly by compression spring 56 which ismounted within manually operable element 53. Spring 56 at its upper endis seated against plate 57 secured at its forward and rear portions totransversely disposed rods 58 and 59 which are mounted at their ends infixed relationship on frame structure ll. Thus with the stock 19disposed in its retracted position as shown in HG. 3, upward pressure onmanually operable release element 53 elevates the transversely disposedlocking rods 54 and 55 and causes those rods to disengage the notchesformed in rods 24) and allows the rods 20 to be withdrawn toward theleft. When the right hand notch of rods 2% (not shown) engages thedownwardly biased locking rods 54 and 55, the stock 119 is locked in itsoutwardly extended position. in this position the weapon may be fired byresting the stock 19 against the shoulder, hip, chest or the like of theuser. in order to retract the stock 19, the element 53 is pushedupwardly and the stock pushed inwardly into the locking position shownin FIG. 3.

Safety element 60 is movable by pin 6H manually in a transversedirection about pin 62 as a center so as to engage the sear 4311 at therear thereof thereby to prevent bolt releasing movement of the sear.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

i claim:

ll. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, abarrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver andtelescopically movable relative to the breech end of said barrel, afiring pin fixedly positioned on a portion of the bolt so locatedrelative to the breech end of the barrel as to come into contact withthe free end of a cartridge of a round of ammunition in the breech endof the barrel upon release of the bolt from its open position, recoilspring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, meansincluding a trigger and sear movably mounted on said frame and operableto release said bolt from its open position to initiate a firingoperation, a magazine mounted on said frame with its discharge portionadjacent the breech end of said barrel, a trigger guard fixedly mountedon said frame and having an intermediate portion extending from saidframe outwardly and in enveloping relation to said trigger, said triggerguard being arranged with one end thereof disposed adjacent thedischarge portion of said magazine and extending toward the breech endof said barrel for guiding rounds of ammunition into the breech end ofsaid barrel prior to firing, and a bolt handle movably mounted on saidbolt and protruding outwardly through a longitudinal slot formed in saidreceiver, said slot and said bolt handle being configured so as toprevent movement of said bolt relative to said receiver for one positionof said bolt handle relative to said bolt and so as to accommodatemovement of said bolt relative to said receiver for another position ofsaid bolt handle relative to said bolt.

2. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, abarrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver andtelescopically movable relative to the breech end of said barrel, recoilspring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, meansincluding a trigger and sear movably mounted on said frame and operableto release said bolt from its open position to initiate a firingoperation, a magazine mounted on said frame with its discharge portionadjacent the breech end of said barrel, and a trigger guard fixedlymounted on said frame and having an intermediate portion extending fromsaid frame outwardly and in enveloping relation to said trigger, saidtrigger guard being arranged with one end thereof extending inwardlyinto the interior portion of said frame through an opening formedtherein and disposed somewhat to the rear of the breech end of saidbarrel and said one end of said trigger guard being configured to definean upwardly inclined path for guiding rounds of ammunition into thebreech end of said barrel prior to firing.

3. A firearm according to claim 2 wherein the other end of said triggerguard is fixedly mounted on said frame immediately forward of saidtrigger.

4. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, abarrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver andtelescopically movable relative to the breech end of said barrel, recoilspring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, meansincluding a trigger and sear movably mounted on said frame and operableto release said bolt from its open position to initiate a firingoperation, a magazine mounted on said frame with its discharge portionadjacent the breech end of said barrel, and a trigger guard fix edlymounted on said frame and having an intermediate portion extending fromsaid frame outwardly and in enveloping relation to said trigger, saidtrigger guard being arranged with one end thereof disposed adjacent thedischarge portion of said magazine and extending toward the breech endof said barrel for guiding rounds of ammunition into the breech end ofsaid barrel prior to firing and said one end of said trigger guard beingprovided with lateral portions for engaging lower parts of said receiverand for affording support therefor.

5. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, abarrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver andtelescopically movable relative to the breech end of said barrel, recoilspring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, a bolthandle movably mounted on said bolt and protruding outwardly through alongitudinal slot formed in said receiver, said slot and said bolthandle being configured so as to prevent movement of said bolt relativeto said receiver for one position of said bolt handle relative to saidbolt and so as to accommodate movement of said bolt 6 relative to saidreceiver for another position of said bolt han- 6. A firearm accordingto claim 5, further comprising at dle relative to said bolt, and a sightpassage being formed in least one sight aligned with the bolt handle.said bolt handle and arranged to accommodate sighting when A firearmaccording to claim further comprising from said bolt handle is disposedin unlocked condition but not and rear sights aligned withthe bolthandlewhen said bolt handle is in a bolt locking position. 5

1. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, abarrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver andtelescopically movable relative to the breech end of said barrel, afiring pin fixedly positioned on a portion of the bolt so locatedrelative to the breech end of the barrel as to come into contact withthe free end of a cartridge of a round of ammunition in the breech endof the barrel upon release of the bolt from its open position, recoilspring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, meansincluding a trigger and sear movably mounted on said frame and operableto release said bolt from its open position to initiate a firingoperation, a magazine mounted on said frame with its discharge portionadjacent the breech end of said barrel, a trigger guard fixedly mountedon said frame and having an intermediate portion extending from saidframe outwardly and in enveloping relation to said trigger, said triggerguard being arranged with one end thereof disposed adjacent thedischarge portion of said magazine and extending toward the breech endof said barrel for guiding rounds of ammunition into the breech end ofsaid barrel prior to firing, and a bolt handle movably mounted on saidbolt and protruding outwardly through a longitudinal slot formed in saidreceiver, said slot and said bolt handle being configured so as toprevent movement of said bolt relative to said receiver for one positionof said bolt handle relative to said bolt and so as to accommodatemovement of said bolt relative to said receiver for another position ofsaid bolt handle relative to said bolt.
 2. A firearm comprising a frame,a receiver mounted on said frame, a barrel mounted on said receiver, abolt mounted in said receiver and telescoPically movable relative to thebreech end of said barrel, recoil spring means arranged to bias saidbolt toward firing position, means including a trigger and sear movablymounted on said frame and operable to release said bolt from its openposition to initiate a firing operation, a magazine mounted on saidframe with its discharge portion adjacent the breech end of said barrel,and a trigger guard fixedly mounted on said frame and having anintermediate portion extending from said frame outwardly and inenveloping relation to said trigger, said trigger guard being arrangedwith one end thereof extending inwardly into the interior portion ofsaid frame through an opening formed therein and disposed somewhat tothe rear of the breech end of said barrel and said one end of saidtrigger guard being configured to define an upwardly inclined path forguiding rounds of ammunition into the breech end of said barrel prior tofiring.
 3. A firearm according to claim 2 wherein the other end of saidtrigger guard is fixedly mounted on said frame immediately forward ofsaid trigger.
 4. A firearm comprising a frame, a receiver mounted onsaid frame, a barrel mounted on said receiver, a bolt mounted in saidreceiver and telescopically movable relative to the breech end of saidbarrel, recoil spring means arranged to bias said bolt toward firingposition, means including a trigger and sear movably mounted on saidframe and operable to release said bolt from its open position toinitiate a firing operation, a magazine mounted on said frame with itsdischarge portion adjacent the breech end of said barrel, and a triggerguard fixedly mounted on said frame and having an intermediate portionextending from said frame outwardly and in enveloping relation to saidtrigger, said trigger guard being arranged with one end thereof disposedadjacent the discharge portion of said magazine and extending toward thebreech end of said barrel for guiding rounds of ammunition into thebreech end of said barrel prior to firing and said one end of saidtrigger guard being provided with lateral portions for engaging lowerparts of said receiver and for affording support therefor.
 5. A firearmcomprising a frame, a receiver mounted on said frame, a barrel mountedon said receiver, a bolt mounted in said receiver and telescopicallymovable relative to the breech end of said barrel, recoil spring meansarranged to bias said bolt toward firing position, a bolt handle movablymounted on said bolt and protruding outwardly through a longitudinalslot formed in said receiver, said slot and said bolt handle beingconfigured so as to prevent movement of said bolt relative to saidreceiver for one position of said bolt handle relative to said bolt andso as to accommodate movement of said bolt relative to said receiver foranother position of said bolt handle relative to said bolt, and a sightpassage being formed in said bolt handle and arranged to accommodatesighting when said bolt handle is disposed in unlocked condition but notwhen said bolt handle is in a bolt locking position.
 6. A firearmaccording to claim 5, further comprising at least one sight aligned withthe bolt handle.
 7. A firearm according to claim 5, further comprisingfront and rear sights aligned with the bolt handle.